Talk of the Town - Historic College Park November 14 2001

Residents thwart new runway to preserve historic small town

Living one MARTA stop away from the busiest airport in America used to be a deterrent for residents relocating to the Atlanta area. Now, due to a successful revitalization project, close location and a unique small-town feel, finding an available home has become the challenge in historic College Park.

When Duane Coleman moved to the neighborhood five years ago, he was thrown into one of the city’s most heated controversies. Hartsfield International Airport was trying to add a fifth runway to properly handle its high volume of traffic. While this seemed like a fine idea to most impatient Atlantans, College Park residents protested, wishing to protect their historic homes and neighborhood located just north of the airport, directly in the path of the intended expansion project. Coleman immediately joined the Historic College Park Neighborhood Association, which protested, cited their residences as historic landmarks and eventually saved their town. Coleman is now president of the association, and he and other residents have implemented a main-street revitalization, instituted ordinances which uphold the historic integrity of the city and work with local police and city services to maintain a cozy feel.

Victorian, neoclassical, post-WWII bungalows and ranch-style homes offer a variety of architectural styles in the area. When new homes are built, they follow particular ordinances that ensure the historic integrity of the neighborhood. Such ordinances guarantee that no pawnshops or labor pools set up shop and help guide developers to create timeless designs.

One unorthodox service College Park offers is door-to-door garbage, recycling and compost removal. According to Coleman, this helps create a small-town atmosphere, while freeing city streets from refuse.

“You know your garbage people, the way you know your neighbors. In time you learn everyone’s names, faces and their usual hours, so that if something strange is going on, you can identify it,” said Coleman.

When Coleman first moved from Druid Hills to College Park he says he was “put off by the idea of living in an airport ‘burb.” Once he visited the area, he was overwhelmed by the similarities to Midtown or Virginia-Highland.

“You get the feeling of being in a small town. Streets are shaded by large trees which create a shady canopy, people are always out jogging or walking their dog,” Coleman says.

The neighborhood association works to promote a sense of community, hosting monthly meetings, an annual tour of homes, fall festival, holiday party and is currently working toward implementing evening concerts in a local park.

Christopher Jones, development director of College Park says that College Park gets a bad rap.

“People usually turn their nose up when you say you live on the south side of town. Those people clearly haven’t been here, or they would prove their false assumptions wrong,” Jones says.

Since he moved from Roswell three years ago, Jones has worked for his community, successfully trying to alleviate the common displacement syndrome new residents face. Jones says now is the best time to invest in Historic College Park, while the property values are rising and the homes are still affordable.

“It’s very exciting to watch College Park reinvent itself, and to help shape the community.”??